A Grumpy Hello

60% of the purchase is made before a potential buyer asks to speak with someone from the organization.* Something amazing is happening here. At this stage the potential buyer has a need and thinks the organization might have the solution. Now add this fact, people can make accurate judgements in a fraction of a second and those first impressions stick says research.

Given these two data points does it surprise you when you call an organization and the person answering the phone sounds grumpy, rushed, distracted, checked out, aloof or bored? When the first impression is so critical to the health of the organization the very best person for that job should be answering the phone.

* From an HBR article: “a recent Corporate Executive Board study of more than 1,400 B2B customers found that those customers completed, on average, nearly 60% of a typical purchasing decision—researching solutions, ranking options, setting requirements, benchmarking pricing, and so on—before even having a conversation with a supplier.